Ahmed al-Hiba
| Ahmed al-Hiba | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The French periodical Le Petit Journal's portrayal of al-Hiba's call to arms to his partisans. 1 September 1912. | |
| Born | 9 September 1877 |
| Died | 26 June 1919 |
| Military career | |
| Years of service | 1910–1919 |
| Battles / wars | Battle of Sidi Bou Othman |
Mawlay Ahmed Haybat Allah ibn Ma al-Aynayn[a] (9 September 1877[b] – 26 June 1919), was a leader of an armed resistance to the French colonial power in Western Sahara, and was the Blue Sultan of Morocco.[1]
In English texts he is usually named simply El Hiba. In addition to his revolutionary activity, Ahmed al-Hiba was a prolific poet.[3]
Early life
[edit]Ahmed Haybat Allah ibn Ma al-Aynayn[4][5] was born on 9 September 1877.[1] He was the son of Ma al-'Aynayn, a religious leader of the Sahara who led an armed uprising against the French in the first decade of the twentieth century.[2]
Resistance
[edit] |
Shortly after Ma al-Aynayn's death, in 1912 the French imposed the Treaty of Fez on the Moroccans and took virtual control of the country. Ma al-'Aynayn's son al-Hiba then decided that this effectively vacated the position of Sultan of Morocco, and proclaimed himself Sultan at Tiznit (Morocco) as his father had done before him.
A general uprising in the south of Morocco saw al-Hiba recognized as Sultan in Taroudannt, Agadir and the Dades and Draa regions. He gained a powerful ally in Si Madani, head of the Glaoua family. With his tribal army he entered Marrakech on 18 August 1912 and was proclaimed Sultan there also.
The decisive Battle of Sidi Bou Othman with the French took place near Marrakech on 6 September 1912. al-Hiba's forces were defeated by the French commanded by Charles Mangin, with the loss of some 2,000 tribal warriors.
In January 1913, the Glaoua family, now allied with the French, drove al-Hiba back to the Sous.
Al-Hiba did not give up the struggle and continued to harass the French in his own area until his death on 23 June 1919 in Kerdous Anti-Atlas. Since then, his struggle was carried on by his brother Merebbi Rebbu.
External links
[edit]- José Ramón Diego Aguirre, El Oscuro Pasado del Desierto. Approximación a la Historia del Sáhara. Casa de África, Madrid, 2004. ISBN 84-95498-64-2.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Arabic: مولاي أحمد هيبة الله بن ماء العينين, romanized: Mawlāy Aḥmad Haybat Allāh ibn Māʾ al-ʿAynayn; known simply as Ahmed al-Hiba (Arabic: أحمد الهيبة, romanized: Aḥmad al-Hība) and by the nickname The Blue Sultan (Arabic: السلطان الأزرق).[1]
- ^ According to the Second Edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam, al-Hiba was born on Ramadan 1293 or 1294 which is some time in September or October in 1876 or 1877.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "الشيخ أحمد الهيبة بن الشيخ ماء العينين" [Shaykh Ahmad al-Hiba ibn Shaykh Ma al-Aynayn]. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ a b Deverdun, Gaston (2004). "Aḥmad al-Hība". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume XII: Supplement. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-90-04-13974-9.
- ^ Haybah, Muḥammad bin al-Shaykh Aḥmad (2010). Dīwān al-shaykh Muḥammad bin al-Shaykh Aḥmad al-Haybah. Tiznīt: Jamʻīyat al-Shaykh Māʼ al-ʻAynayn lil-Tanmīyah wa-al-Thaqāfah.
- ^ Burke, Edmund (29 June 2018). "Moroccan Resistance, Pan-Islam and German War Strategy, 1914–1918". Francia: 448. doi:10.11588/FR.1975.0.48386.
... where his true name, Mawlāy Ahmad Haybat Allāh ibn Mā al-ʿAynayn is given.
- ^ Moreau, Odile; Schaar, Stuart, eds. (13 December 2016). Subversives and Mavericks in the Muslim Mediterranean: A Subaltern History. University of Texas Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-4773-1091-5.
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